Bunker Belt Bruggenhoofd Gent – Advanced Bunker AV11

Belgian bunker, part of the Ghent Bridgehead. This defensive position was constructed between 1934 and 1938, eight kilometres south of Ghent. Its construction was part of the fortification policy that Belgium pursued after the First World War.
The actual bridgehead consisted of two resistance nests – Betsberg and Muntekouter – and three strong points – Semmerzake, Eke and Astene.
The resistance nests and strong points were connected to each other by a curtain consisting of three defence lines.

There are 8 bunkers on the territory of Gijzenzele. Some are on private property and are therefore inaccessible, others are overgrown.
AV11 is the middle of a group of three advanced bunkers on the front line between Betsberg and the Brussels-Ostend railway line. The other two bunkers are AV10 (375 m) and AV12 (285 m). This is probably one of the most fought over bunkers on the line. At the head of the forest where it stood, it certainly went from the Belgian to the German side and vice versa several times.
The bunker was finished at the bottom with a few rows of bricks that were additionally cemented. It had a fairly flat roof with blue Boom tiles, in the roof there was a dome. The two loopholes were closed with metal trapdoors.
It looked like a forest hut, a few dozen meters in front of the then half-moon forest.
The bunker consisted of two rooms connected at the back, an airlock and a dome.
It was equipped as standard for the installation of Maxim machine guns, but a Hotchkiss or Colt machine gun could also be installed. The bunker is located along the very busy Wettersesteenweg on a small plot behind a hedge, at the back on a field. It is located entirely on private property and is used as a kind of storage room. An iron staircase has been installed to go to the top of the bunker.

Extensive information about this bunker belt can be found on the site Bunkergordel Bruggenhoofd Gent. It also contains photos, plans and technical data of the bunkers. A map shows the locations per municipality.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck